Frigid Flame

Chapter 13

Shimo made her way back to Keigo and her shared apartment, the semi-conversation she had with her father still fresh in her mind. While all the facts were true, there was something she couldn't put her finger on. Going back over the incident with him, some pieces struck out as wrong.

It happened when he refused to go to Sekoto Hill. She had snuck out to see if he was okay. Shimo had been the only living being when Enji got up there.

The young woman's head pulsed in pain as she tried to recall the memory. She did remember their father refusing to see Touya, but not much else other than her checking on him. All she remembered there were heated words, a blue inferno, and overwhelming fear.

"To—a, dad isn't c-mi-g... B-But I'll watch!"

"Go away! Y--'re not --- one I w--t here!"

"B--, yo-'r- cr-in-..."

The memory soon skipped forward, the images of the entire thing blurred beyond reason.

"------!"

"No T--ya! I- not le-ing you k--l you-elf! I-'ll be ok--! Just -ake my hand!"

Shimo shook her head clear of the muddled memory, it was starting to cause a migraine. It was difficult for her to recall most of the details now, when she was younger it was slightly easier to remember...right? The last words she had said were almost fresh in her head, but everything before that had become foggy over time.

The young woman's grip on her bag of groceries tightened at the thought of forgetting her twin's supposed last moments. Her thoughts raced once more thinking about Dabi potentially being Touya.

What would she do if he was really alive?

Simple, she'd tell Keigo and keep the news away from their family. For good reason.

What would she do if it was some punk pretending to be him?

She'd kill him, no questions asked. She's done it before. She'd do it again.

What if... What if it was all in her head? A psychosis from watching her brother kill himself by accident, and that she could barely save herself where he was left to die?

She didn't know what she would do then. Considering she was already a little unhinged from the ordeal and her father's brutal rearing, this would just make everything worse.

Shimo stopped outside of the building Keigo and she lived in. A new thought in her head.

Do I tell Keigo?

A burning, guilty heat rose up the back of her neck, the image of his disappointed face in her mind making it worse.

No, she won't tell him, at least not yet. Shimo pulled out her phone and searched through her contacts until she found one specific number.

"..."

She waited quietly as it rang three times before being picked up.

"What do you need, brat?"

Shimo let out a soft relieved sigh hearing her mentor's voice and for a moment it felt like everything was alright in the world. That there was no person named Dabi claiming to be Touya and getting in her head. That she was taking care of threats for the public secretly, and everything was as it was before she thought to settle.

"Yamato-san... could you do me a favor?" Her voice was uncharacteristically soft, almost timid with her words.

There was silence on the other end of the line before he started to speak, though his tone filled with concern than his earlier gruffness.

"What's wrong Shimo? Tell me what happened."

"Is there any way you could put a few feelers out there someone going by the alias 'Dabi'?"

Silence followed her question once more before she received his answer. Shimo's eyes lifted to the window of her shared apartment, a hopeless look filling her eyes as she stared at Keigo's silhouette behind the curtains.

"Sure I can, but what's this all about?"

"I don't know, but I need to know everything you can find about him. I just need to make sure."

"Make sure of what?"

Yamato's voice grew steadily more concerned with the slight ramble that came from her.

"That he isn't him."

Shimo hung up the phone before he could get another word out and made her way inside the building. A small smile came over her face as she opened the door and the sight of her boyfriend's feathers going about and tidying up the apartment.

"Soo, how'd it go?"

She gave him a dulled look which caused him to chuckle. The tawny-eyed man quickly pulled her into a hug while his feathers took the groceries from her grip. Shimo's body drooped with the dropping of her guard and stress while she hugged him. While the hugs from her siblings were nice, she still had the same thought from earlier, Keigo's hugs were the best.

"Other than seeing him it went fine."

"What did you need to go there to for anyway? Hopefully to tell him how awesome his future son-in-law is!"

A snort left her at his casual words, and she shook her head at him.

"I'm afraid if I did that he'd turn you into fried chicken."

Keigo shrugged, leading her into the kitchen when he pulled away slightly. His arm remained at her waist as he brought her to a large pot of bubbly stew.

"I made creamed stew!"

Her smile grew at the proud tone in his voice and the adorable grin that had split across his face.

"Chicken cream stew!"

And just like that, she deflated.

"Seriously? Can we have one meal where it isn't chicken!?"

"NEVER"